Patna: The Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar has “quietly” paved the way for the release of former MP Anand Mohan Singh, who is serving life sentence for the murder of a public servant in 1994.
On 10 April, the government notified an amendment to the Bihar Jail Manual, which pertained to the removal of a clause that specified that those who killed government officials were not entitled to release for “good behaviour”.
The State Home Department issued a notification saying that in the Bihar Jail Rules, 2012, Rule 481 (1) A, the phrase “or, the murder of a public servant” shall be deleted.
The amendment, however, drew a sharp reaction from former IPS officer Amitabh Das, who alleged that the move was specifically designed to aid Singh, who was convicted of murder. In 1994, IAS officer G. Krishnayya. Krishnaiah, the then District Magistrate of Gopalganj on the outskirts of Muzaffarpur, was lynched by a mob allegedly instigated by the politician.
“The state government has changed the law to help a murderer. Krishnaiah, a Dalit IAS officer, was beaten to death on December 5, 1994 while on his way to Hajipur from Gopalganj while on duty.’
He said that he wrote a letter on Saturday Bihar Governor Rajendra Arlekar urged him to intervene as the amendment “will demoralize government employees in Bihar.”
Singh is currently on parole for the engagement of his son and Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA Chetan Anand. He has been out on parole twice, the second time last year for his daughter’s wedding.
Incidentally, since the formation of the Grand Alliance government in August last year, there have been repeated attempts to get Singh out of jail. The pressure can be gauged from the fact that in the assembly last year, senior Janata Dal (United) minister Bijendra Yadav, while speaking about the acquittal, cited the same section which provides for “acquittal of those who kill public servants on duty”. before”. Jail on grounds of good behavior.
According to JD(U) sources, getting Singh out of jail will help both JD(U) and TJD pacify a ‘powerful’ caste and even at the national level Singh’s oratory against the BJP Skills can also be used. Before going to jail, Singh’s image was as a leader of Kshatriya Samaj.
Considering the fact that according to the caste census in the 1930s, Rajputs accounted for 4 percent of upper caste votes, the parties aimed to capitalize on Singh’s influence to fight the BJP.
The move may become even more important after 2014, as Rajputs, like other upper castes, have largely shown their loyalty to the BJP, and have remained so after Nitish left the NDA in August last year.
“Anand Mohan has qualities, he was a great orator and knows Bihar. He is a great reader and has written books from jail.
Speaking to ThePrint, Ahmed said: “In the early 1990s, we were opposing the caste politics introduced by Lalu and fighting against the annihilation of Bihar. There was great anger among the people against the government. Then, it was Singh, an upper caste face, who was a major force against the anti-Lalu fight.”
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Who is Anand Mohan Singh?
Born into a family of freedom fighters in Saharsa district, Singh was at the forefront of upper-caste resistance against the “growing power of the backward castes”.
Although he started his political journey from this JP movementTill 1990, several cases including murder, kidnapping and extortion were registered against him in Kosi region.
In the 1990 assembly elections, Singh won from Mahishi assembly seat on the ticket of late former PM Chandrashekhar. In the same year, Pappu Yadav won the Siddheshwar assembly seat as an independent, swearing allegiance to Lalu Prasad.
With the victory of Singh as the upper caste face and Pappu Yadav as the lower caste face, several caste-based conflicts broke out in the Kosi, Saharsa, Purnia, Supaul, Madhepura regions of Bihar in the early 90s.
From 1990–1995, Singh took an aggressive stand against Lalu Prasad after setting up his own political outfit, the Bihar People’s Party. His winning moment came in the Vaishali Lok Sabha bypoll when his wife Lovely Anand defeated the RJD candidate.
This was the first time that the anti-Lalu forces had joined hands and proved that even Lalu could be defeated. In his public speeches, Singh used to target Lalu and even threaten him publicly. He was a brawler and a skilled orator who enjoyed great popularity, especially among the upper-caste youth.
“My first goal is to capture the youth,” he then had told this reporter,
However, political upheavals followed the defeat in the 1995 assembly elections.
In 1996, Singh joined the Samata Party and won from Sheohar Lok Sabha constituency. He won again in 1999, but this time with Lalu’s support. This reporter was seen by Lalu showing Singh at his residence when he shook hands with him. “Remember what you wrote about him?” Lalu asked reporters mockingly referring to reports of Singh being against him. Singh’s victory, however, was short-lived.
In 2008, the Patna High Court first announced the death penalty against Singh for Krishnaiah’s murder, but following an appeal, the verdict was commuted to life imprisonment by the Supreme Court in the same year. Six other co-accused in the case were acquitted for lack of evidence, although Singh’s appeal against the lower court order was rejected by the High Court as well as the Supreme Court.
(Editing by Richa Mishra)